About the course

Introduction

Infections are a common cause of paediatric morbidity and mortality and correctly diagnosing and treating serious infections in children is important.Several factors can interfere with the process of diagnosing and successfully treating ill children. These include failure to take an adequate history, inadequate observations once a child is admitted, failure to anticipate and recognise complications and inadequate safety netting by junior staff. Cognitive biases also often contribute to incorrect diagnosis and management. The course addresses these issues and provides practical approaches to avoid these pitfalls.

Course Aims

The aim of this highly interactive 3-day course is to give front-line doctors, who look after children, a practical approach to recognising the unwell child, identifying red flags, considering differential diagnoses and managing a wide range of serious infections. This is achieved through small-group workshops discussing real cases, and a small number of lectures which underpin these workshops, covering clinical decision making, antibiotics, and basics of the immune system. On day 1, workshops cover the approach to the septic child, fever in the returning traveller, fever in the neonate, the child with a limp, abnormal neurology, and vaccinations. On day 2 interactive workshops include fever in the immunocompromised host, the child with swollen joints, evaluating the child with recurrent infections and the child with a secondary immunodeficiency. Day 3 allows delegates an opportunity to discuss elements of the course in more detail and to present their own cases for discussion with members of the faculty and other delegates, all amidst the natural beauty of Iceland.

As the delegates will be divided into small groups for workshops, a maximum of 36 delegates can be accepted for the course.

The Iceland Course was first run in 2015, and has been slightly modified each year since then in response to feedback from delegates. Delegates have greatly enjoyed the personal interaction that is central to the course and many new friendships have been made. Course alumni reunions have been organised at the annual ESPID conferences.

Programme

*Delegates will be divided inot small group for workshops which will run in parallel, all delegates will participate in all workshops. All workshops will be facilitated by 2 members of the faculty – Anjay Patel, Ásgeir haraldsson, Augrey Cunnington, Valtýr Thors, Jethro Herberg and Pablo Rojo

Venue

The venue will be Hannesarholt, a beautiful renovated villa with a rich history in the centre of Reykjavík . There are several options for accommodation within walking distance from the congress venue that can be booked through the congress agency or directly on the internet.

Private transportation will need to be arranged if required – the weather may be cold! We advise participants to book their accommodation early, both for prices and availability.

For further information on hotels, contact the conference agency, CP Reykjavík.